


What If

by JessariOfErebor



Series: Revised 2010 One-Shots [8]
Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 21:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11090655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessariOfErebor/pseuds/JessariOfErebor
Summary: Rewrite of "Aliens in a Spaceship." There's a flashback explaining the situation if you can't remember the episode, it's an old one."She was on the brink."





	What If

_ Booth: Does it mean anything to anybody? (Speaking of the numbers sent to Booth's phone, now portrayed on screen) _

_ Cam: They're getting low on oxygen. _

_ Zack: Hypoxia leads to mental confusion. _

_ Booth: It's Bones. This means something. _

_ Angela: Did you try dialing the number? _

_ Booth: I tried all the dumb-guy normal stuff, okay? That's why I'm here talking to the brain trust, all right? (Becomes increasingly irritated) Think, eggheads! (hits screen) Work it! (yelling) _

_ Cam: Booth, they're not cops. _

_ Booth: Yeah, we're running out of time. _

_ Zack: Minor correction. Dr. Brennan and Hodgins will run out of air in four seconds…We are out of time. _

_ (a few minutes later, as the Squints and Booth continue trying to decipher the text) _

_ Zack: It's not a numerical-alphabet code or an equation. _

_ Angela: It's not G.P.S. coordinates or indications of topography. _

_ Booth: Great. Then what is it? _

_ Cam: Can I made a suggestion? See, this is exactly why I was sent here. You guys are brilliant, but you won't make intuitive leaps. _

_ Zack: You mean jump to conclusions? _

_ Cam: That's exactly what I mean. This is a message from one of them to one of us - specific, focused. Who was it meant to get to? _

_ Booth: Easy. Brennan's cell to mine. Right? The message was for me. We have an understanding. We work together. _

_ Angela: We all work together. She's my best friend. And Hodgins…Hodgins - _

_ Cam: She's right. We should assume the message is from Hodgins, not Brennan. _

_ Booth: Why? _

_ Cam: Because they're buried alive. _

_ Angela: And Hodgins is all about dirt. _

_ Booth: Okay, great. The message is about dirt. But who is it to? _

_ Zack: Angela. Hodgins is all about Angela. Hodgins is all about dirt and Angela. _

_ Angela: But it's numbers, Zack. It's for you. Hodgins would have written me like a line of poetry or something. _

_ Zack: Six, seven, sixteen. Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur on the periodic table of elements. They are buried in coal-rich soil. _

_ Booth: You gotta narrow it down, Zack. _

_ Angela: Keep going Zack. _

_ Zack: The mineral components in coal are all the same. It's the organic components that provide a unique fingerprint. They're called macerals. They fluoresce at different levels. A reflectance of 1.4 is quite rare, suggesting a high concentration of inordinate. _

_ Booth: Zack, tell me what that means. _

_ Angela: It means he knows where they are. _

They had one chance. One chance to escape.

_ Bones: That gives up just long enough. _

_ Hodgins: Just long enough for what? _

_ Bones: My next idea, which will kill us. Airbags. _

Even though there was a very good chance that their brains would be turned to mush…it was better than sitting around and waiting to die from oxygen deprivation.

_ Hodgins: (puts a folded up piece of paper in his jacket) _

_ Bones: Is that a note to Angela? _

_ Hodgins: Yes. Just in case. _

It had come to a point where they would have to rely on luck to keep their lives. A single shot, a hit or miss shot.

 

 

****************

As Seeley Booth and the Squints surveyed the canyon of dry, secretive dirt, nothing seemed to be amiss. There were no holes, SUV's, or large mounds. Booth began ordering the small army of FBI agents and local police to search the area for anything that seemed suspicious, different, or even remotely interesting.

They were just about to begin looking when a small explosion was set off. There was no sound, but a small amount of dust rose in a geyser-like appearance. He knew what it was. Everyone did.

Without even waiting to give instructions, he automatically sprinted down the steep hill, with nothing in his mind except one thing.

_ Save Her. _

Why, you ask?

Was it because of their friendship? Yes, but that was not the only reason.

Was it because of her importance to the FBI? No, no, and once again, no. The only reason why he cared if she kept assisting the government was because she was working with him. If she went, he went.

There are many other things that could be pointed out, but they are of no consequence compared to the gravity of the main reason.

_ He loved her. _

FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth was in love with the world renown book writer and anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. But then again, was it really that complicated? Or was it simply, "Booth and Bones"? He believed it was a mixture of both. Without the job, there was no them, but without their distinctive personalities, he probably never would have been attracted to her in the first place.

Still, he was unaware of exactly  _ when _ he fell for her - for all he knew, he may have loved her the very first moment they met, social awkwardness and all.

And now, as he ran to save her, everything they had ever shared took over, and his motor senses moved his body forward while his conscious mind saw everything that they had been through, every joke shared, everytime pie was mentioned, every "guy" hug, the times he had held her as she cried, wiped away her tears, looked into her eyes, touched her on the hand or arm, every time she restrained him, how she had _ changed  _ because of him _ , _ and…the way  _ she  _ had changed  _ him. _

Reaching the site, he snapped back to reality and dug manually, as quickly as he could. After only a few seconds, he found a arm. Pulling on it, it revealed Bones;  _ his _ Bones, the very foundation of himself, and one of the two things that he lived for.

He drug her all of the way out, and his heart rose as he saw she was still alive. Then, just as quickly, it plummeted.

She was on the brink.

Pale and unmoving, she was cold to the touch. Her skin was slightly clammy, and she seemed to be having problems breathing; every breath was raspy and extremely shallow.

Booth stroked her cheek, and her eyes opened briefly.

"Booth…" she managed to get out. Her eyes began to close again and he shook her, soft but firm.

"Bones, stay with me."

Her eyes fluttered open again. It was hard for her to focus; her bluish-green eyes were almost unseeing.

"Bones," he said, "I-I need to tell you something, okay?"

Recognition flickered in her eyes, and as he continued, it became a bright flame.

"I'm in love with you, Bones. I wish I had told you sooner, but.." He shook his head, and tears began to flow freely down his face.

She smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek.

"I knew, Booth," she whispered, her voice soft and almost to the point of being distant, like a person who had ran a week-long marathon without stopping once for food, water, or even blessed sleep.

"I knew that you loved me. And, no matter how irrational the concept is…I love you too."

He leaned down to meet her lips, and his mouth descended upon hers, gentle, cautious, and loving. He was completely unaware of the voices and sounds around him, as others arrived on the scene and Hodgins was pulled out of the ground as well.

Her mouth moved against his is eternal bliss: love's first kiss.

And last.

Pulling back, she smiled, positively  _ glowing _ , even though she was on the doorstep of death.

"I love you," she barely managed to get out, and tears began running down Booth's face even faster, completely unchecked.

They had an audience, though neither Agent nor Squint were aware of it. The EMS was too far away, even now.

"Bones," he choked out, leaning his forehead against hers. Angela could be heard crying for Hodgins in the distance, but the agent paid her no mind. There would be time for comforting later.

"Booth," she whispered. And with that final breath, the beautiful, stunning, brilliant, forensic anthropologist left this world and went onto the next.


End file.
